CIV4 should be 3D!

[douche_bag]

I think the graphics are tottaly perfect the way they are.I mean it would be nice to have a better zoom feature but it shouldnt be 3d.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

I think the graphics are tottaly perfect the way they are.I mean it would be nice to have a better zoom feature but it shouldnt be 3d.

But the whole point of the 3D engine is that the graphics aren't perfect - the FLC files they are stored in are huge, the units take WAY too long to render, and are much more difficult to modify.

People seem to have the conception that 3D is harder to make. Civ3 had 3D units, but unit production time was MASSIVELY inflated because every 3D animation had to be converted to a 2D animation in attack, move, etc animation in ALL EIGHT DIRECTIONS.

Actually, I heard a preview say that Rome: Total War runs faster than it's medieval counterpart, because it has been changed to 3D. It would also be way more portable - if you have tried Civ3 in linux, you will understand that the 2D unit animations are headachingly painful to watch.

3D is much faster, easier to make, more portable, and more versatile. 2D pales in to insignificance by comparison.

 

[Volstag]

About the gut feeling about Rome: Total War.

We have just seen pictures, we know nothing about gameplay.

I agree. I'm looking forward to playing it, but I'm not entirely convinced that it's going to be the "be all, end all" of strategy games. Basically, their tactical battle engine is/was wonderful, but the strategic/diplomatic/informational aspects of MTW were sorely lacking (far inferior to Civ III, IMHO) -- and I'm somewhat worried that the same thing is going to happen in RTW. And, to me, the tactical battles are merely "cute", unless they're coupled with an engaging strategic model.

-V

 

[croxis]

Also remember from the stand point of the modders and Total Conversioners. In general a real 3d engine would make things harder for some who still do their work in photoshop, while it would make the work for those who do their art in 3d much more easy (then again polygon counts for the models will become an issue -- hopefully not a major one where there is a loss of quality with the human units). But for those of you who want to be able to zoom in and see little workers building that wonder of your... that is just one more thing a Star Trek modder will have to change for her project! Then again I am a lazy basdard who likes to do as little work as possible.